A view from the Chinook and the Singapore shopping experience

Last night was quite the adventure. We followed the cadet hosts to the MRT (metro) station to learn how to travel around the city on our own. We learned about all of the major stops and proceeded to head into the city district near the harbor. We went atop a building to grab a great view of the harbor lights. It was an amazing view! There were so many buildings whose reflections glanced off of the water to provide a spectacular image. We were also able to see the Singapore Flyer (which we will be visiting in the days to come) lit up at nighttime – also an amazing view.

After sufficient photograph time, we headed back down to the street for some more exploring. We found a hawkers center, which is a street lined with small stall-like food stations and tried some more local cuisine.

We sampled satay, which is a kabob with chicken, beef and mutton in peanut sauce. Also, we tried an ice kachang, which is a multi-flavored snow cone with a mixture of beans at the bottom and adorned with sweet corn on top. We were also able to buy whole coconuts and try the milk. After our meal, we headed back to the NCC camp. When we arrived, we were treated to a night snack of eggs, bananas, and hotdog rolls.

This morning we were treated to a traditional American breakfast of cereal and milk. There was also bread and nutella spread. We changed into our uniforms and then headed to Sembawang Air Base for a flight in a Chinook helicopter. We were able to stay rather low to the ground and were exposed to very nice views of the city, as well as a few smaller islands including Sentosa. After the flight, we were treated to lunch at the base. Maj Winter and I were given the opportunity to eat with the base commander. The lunch was a rather Westernized meal of chicken, fries, bread and corn. After we left the base, we headed back to the NCC camp for a short break. The other countries grabbed their formal wear and prepared to head to their embassies. We were not able to meet with anyone from our embassy, so currently we are at a Starbucks on Orchard Road, the main thoroughfare and shopping area in the city. Soon we will be headed off to explore the malls and have dinner all together at a true tourist location….Hard Rock Café

Janice

Janice did a great job highlighting our experiences from last night and today, our days truly continue to be a great time.

I know that I have blogged about how small Singapore is but I think I need to expand a bit about how small the world is!

Last night we were split into smaller groups to explore downtown and it was amazing. The downtown area is so vibrant with lots of great restaurants and shops. One of our stops was at a large concert hall where we were able to stop for a few minutes to catch American gospel choir in action, they were amazing.

Today as we are in our brief before we boarded the Chinook I had the chance to be introduced to an U.S. Army Major who is here on a three year exchange program with the Singapore Air Force as an instructor pilot. Our first question was the normal where are you from, and to my surprise the answer was Baltimore, but it got better! He is a graduate of Towson University and earned his Commission at Loyola College in Maryland. For those of you who don’t know I live in Baltimore and work at Loyola. It was great to meet him and he has offered to host all of the escort officers at his home here for a BBQ later in the week. (That I think may come as a surprise to his wife)

An interesting point about the Singapore Military, the mandatory age of retirement is 45, which is amazing to think about! Talk about wishful thinking. The base commander who hosted us for lunch today explained to us that sometimes the age restriction poses an issue with International Relations as sometimes the Chief of the Singapore Defense is only 45 and trying to negotiate with other foreign military delegations that have over 45 years of military service! Often he said they are looked at as being young and inexperienced. I can tell you that I’ve thought the complete opposite; everyone that we have met carries themselves with the highest standards.

I have a long list of souvenirs to buy so I think I’ll end it here. Hope all is going well back at home,

-Joe

Hey, hey, hey it’s Seeebastian! Hey everyone hope all is going well back home. The past day has already been highlighted by Joe and Janice, so I’ll just expand on my day a little bit. We went to the City Center and mall last night and I was able to try some of the local cuisine which was fantastic. Myself and a cadet from Australia bought a fresh coconut and drank most of that up(the last bit being spilled on another cadet by accident). I have been to the mall three times already but surprisingly I haven’t bought anything yet….though I think that’s going to change in a little bit. Played some soccer yesterday during the day but soon went in for a nap as the heat was quite tiring. The jet lag has worn off for the most part, but I find I’m really tired around early afternoon because we’re 12 hours ahead so back home its night, but after six I regain most of my energy. The Chinhook fight was amazing….just can’t wait till I’m able to fly helicopters! The Singapore military is very similar to the U.S. and is very efficient. The whole country is kept clean all the time, no matter where you go or what you do you will find it to be clean, efficient, and simple. Well I think I’ll let you all go but until the next post I’ll catch you all later! Enjoy the cooler weather!

-Sebastian